(Continue reading for the full State Corporation Commission news release.)

RICHMOND — The State Corporation Commission (SCC) has scheduled a December public hearing on a request by Columbia Gas of Virginia to increase its rates. The company is seeking recovery of costs associated with system improvements for safety and reliability, and from the implementation of its pipeline safety program.

Columbia Gas has also proposed thermal-based (Dth) billing, which calculates customer bills based on the heat content of the gas burned instead of the volume of gas delivered, which is volumetric (Mcf) based.

If approved, the company estimates the average monthly bill of a typical residential customer will increase by $6.90, beginning October 2014. The company plans to implement thermal-based billing beginning in January 2016.

Columbia Gas estimates the rate and billing changes will generate annual revenue of $31.8 million, which includes an increase of $24.9 million and the $6.9 million that is currently being recovered through a rate rider for its SAVE program.

The public hearing will be held on December 9, 2014 at 10 a.m. in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building at 1300 East Main Street in downtown Richmond. Any person wishing to comment at the hearing should arrive early and sign in with the SCC bailiff. The audio portion of this hearing will be webcast via the SCC website. Webcast information can be found on the SCC website at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case.

Written comments on the company’s proposal must be submitted by December 2, 2014. All correspondence should be sent to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118, and refer to case number PUE-2014-00020.

Persons desiring to submit comments electronically may do so at the SCC’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. Click on the PUBLIC COMMENTS/NOTICES link and then the SUBMIT COMMENTS button for case number PUE-2014-00020.